Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Mega Trance 10 Anniversary
Release Date: 5/27/09
Price: 2362 yen

Mega Electro 10? That’s what almost half of the first disc sounds like. Add in a few too many repeats and you end up just skipping half the album. It’s not a total loss, however, as we do get a fantastic Delaction remix as well as new stuff from DJ U*Hey? and DJ Tora. There’s even a promising new trance duo known as Glutton Boyz.

Despite the overabundance of repeats (and electro!), it’s still a recommended buy, if only for the Delaction track and the DJ U*Hey? Best disc. If you’re not interested in the second disc, I recommend just buying “7 Years and 50 Days,” “Viva la Vida,” “Jackknife,” “He’s a Pirate,” and “Closer” off iTunes Japan.

Full track-by-track review of the first disc after the jump.

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Quake Trance presents Quake News #07
Release Date: 9/2/09
Price: 999 yen

P-p-p-poker face. P-p-p-poker face.

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Quake Trance presents Quake News #06
Release Date: 8/5/09
Price: 999 yen

The series will no longer be limited to trance alone, and will start including electro-house as well. Once again, the series has switched to full-length versions instead of radio edits, so it’s really not that bad of a deal.

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Exit Trance presents Gakkou Trance 5 Jigenme
Release Date: 8/5/09
Price: 1905 yen

Quite a few repeats on this fifth release in the Gakou Trance series. “Dschinghis Khan” is pretty surprising, though perhaps not as exciting as “Hero (Holding Out for a Hero).” Shouldn’t that have been on Cinema Covers instead?

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Exit Trance presents J-Pop Covers 90’s
Release Date: 8/5/09
Price: 1905 yen

Looks like the final title is “Exit Trance presents 90’s J-Covers.” Only one repeat. Not too shabby.

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Men’s Egg Night ~Soukan 10 Shuunen Kinen Best!!~
Release Date: 8/26/09
Price: 1900 yen

A special CD release to commemorate the 10th anniversary of, umm… something. It’s either the 10th anniversary of the men’s egg magazine (the male counterpart of the egg magazine mentioned yesterday), or the 10th anniversary of men’s egg Night, a trance party. Victor has released a few men’s egg compilations in the past, but they usually featured music from Trance Rave Best. This one seems to be more focused on psychedelic trance, however.

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Exit Trance presents Kids Trance Land 2
Release Date: 7/15/09
Price: 1905 yen

Most of the songs appear to be from children’s anime shows, with the exception of the theme from “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends,” which looks completely out of place. Oh, and they’re also covering a BeForU song. o_O

I spot at least three repeats, which isn’t too bad, but there was a time when these compilations had no repeats. I fear the day when they end up being like EMI’s themed Speed releases, with 75% repeats.

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Exit Trance presents Dramatic Trance ~Memorial~ Dai 2 Wa
Release Date: 7/15/09
Price: 1905 yen

Another Utada song gets tranceformed. Plus, “Pop Star” gets covered for the second time.

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Exit Tunes presents Speed Anime Trance Bitter
Release Date: 8/19/09
Price: 1905 yen

Yup, another SATB sub-series. SATB Bitter will focus on “bittersweet” anime themes. No early list, unfortunately, so one can only imagine what Quake have in store for us. Somehow I get the feeling they’ll use this as an excuse to repeat “Beautiful World.” Any other guesses?

Pre-order at CDJapan.

Exit Trance presents UmaUma Dekiru Trance wo Tsukutte Mita Complete Best
Release Date: 7/15/09
Price: 2667 yen (Regular Edition) or 2857 yen (Limited Edition)

Oh, bloody hell. “Caramelldansen (Speedycake Remix)” again?! You’d think that Quake would commission a new remix for this special release, or at least use a remix that hasn’t already appeared a hundred times.

The album cover on the left is for the regular edition, while the one on the right is for the limited. The limited edition of the album comes with a special figure of “Miko Barusa.” Miko is apparently the name of the blue-haired character who was on the cover of the first two albums. Put the name in the traditional Japanese order and you get “barusamiko,” which I take it is a reference to a Nico Nico meme involving balsamic vinegar. Cute. The limited edition will be limited to only 20,000 copies. Meanwhile, the regular version comes with one trading card out of four total.

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Oreuta ~Around 30 J-Rock Non-Stop Cover~
Artist: N.O.-SYO feat. Sin
Release Date: 6/24/09
Price: 2381 yen

I’d been wondering why N.O.-SYO had seemingly disappeared from Exit Trance the last few months, and it turns out the reason is he’s been busy working on this album. The god of rock trance takes on classics from the likes of Bo?wy, Complex, and Glay. Visit the official site for samples and more info.

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Anime Nitro*Itaoto Mix!
Release Date: 6/24/09
Price: 1905yen

kors k + K-On = KO! PREget Music have put up a website for Anime Nitro with samples for all of the tracks as well as a special 12-minute crossfade medley: Anime Nitro Official Site. The kors k remix of “Don’t say ‘lazy'” sounds amazing, as does the PDC remix of “Lion.” I’m surprised that some of the later songs are more jazz than trance, though.

The album is already out of stock at Amazon, who claim that it’ll take 1-2 months to get a copy. Dunno what the situation is at CDJapan or HMV. As for digital versions, King Beat have put up tracks from PREget in the past. The only problem is that King Beat haven’t updated in a month, leading me to believe they’re either on a really long vacation or worse, out of business. 🙁

Edit: I’ve been informed that the official romanization for the title is “Itaoto Mix!” and not “Itaon Mix!” which is what CDJapan was listing it as.

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Quake Trance presents Quake News #05
Release Date: 7/1/09
Price: 999 yen

The latest tracks picked by Helios. Unlike previous releases in the series, it looks like this one will have full-length versions instead of radio edits. Bravo, Quake!

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Exit Trance presents Zenbei No. 1 Cinema Covers 2
Release Date: 7/1/09
Price: 1905 yen

Oh. Em. Gee. Ghostbusters! Raiders’ March!! WONKA’s WELCOME SONG!!! The final list for Cinema Covers 2 looks simply amazing. There are plenty of obvious picks but also quite a few obscure themes. Along with the aforementioned Willy Wonka theme, we’ll also be getting songs from Home Alone(!), The Last Samurai, and even Dinosaur. Sadly, there’s nothing as potentially inappropriate as “Theme from Schindler’s List” this time around.

The usual gang of Exit Trance artists will once again be doing the covers. Ryu* gets two tracks this time, one of them being “Ghostbusters.” Meanwhile, Dizzi Mystica gets the largest share with three tracks under his belt. I loved what he did with “The Imperial March,” so it makes sense that he’ll be doing the main Star Wars theme. The themes from The Dark Knight, and Pretty Woman are pretty inspired choices, though.

The biggest and best surprise is the appearance of N.O.-SYO. He was strangely absent from the first release, but he’ll be making his Cinema Covers debut with two tracks. N.O.-SYO’s distinct brand of rock-trance is sure to spice up “Raider’s March,” but I’m very curious to hear how “The Way of the Sword” will turn out.

Cinema Covers 2 isn’t entirely flawless, unfortunately. “Axel F” is present. AGAIN. B.U.S. did a great job with the theme on the first release, and Ron Rockwell’s electro-house version is nothing special. And isn’t “Welcome to Jurassic Park” essentially the same as the main theme that was already on the first Cinema Trance? They even have Starving Trancer doing it again.

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Exit Trance presents Speed Anime Trance Best 7
Release Date: 7/1/09
Price: 1905 yen

Shut Up and Explode! Not only does it have the best title ever, but it’s also a fantastic song that should make for an excellent trance cover. Interesting that they’re having Yuki do it, though, since the original had male vocals. (Edit: I’m an idiot. I was confusing Yurie with Yuki.)

In even more exciting news, “Hatena de Wasshoi” finally makes its debut and it’s by Ryu*! Hooray for maximum Bemani synergy!

Also intriguing is a new collaboration by DJ Uto and Starving Trancer, with Mayumi Morinaga doing vocals. If all that wasn’t enough, there’s even a Ryu* remix! Quake uploaded it to Nico Nico to promote the album:

As far as I can tell, the version on the album won’t be the Ryu* remix, which raises the question of exactly when and where the Ryu* remix will appear.

And no, I’m not going to comment on the cover art.

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